The Most Wonderful Time of Year
by iAMwhatIamK
Summary: Winter has come to the Land of Departure and Terra, Aqua, and Ven are lost in the wonder of it all. But as the snow falls, the season has a way of bringing people together. All canon. Christmas 2012
1. Ventus

**Snow's falling and I'm in the holiday mood. On top of that, I'm playing through Birth by Sleep, so here's my first Kingdom Hearts Christmas story: The Most Wonderful Time of Year. Enjoy.**

**I don't not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.**

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I awake to find the room positively freezing. I pull the covers closer to me, wrapping them around my bare shoulders. I roll over and look up at my window; something isn't right. I reach up and touch the frosted glass. It's cold to touch. I lift myself up and wipe away some of the fog covering the pane. Outside, white flecks slowly fall to the ground, covering it in a blanket of white.

I hear a door slam down the hall and the rushed sound of running footsteps. "Ven," a voice says, accompanied with a rapid knock, "did you see it?"

I wrap the blanket tighter around me and pull open the door. The smiling bluenette looks down at me. She's wearing a grey ¾ sleeve sweater, a light blue scarf, black pants, and fuzzy white, mid-calf boots. "See what?" I say, still trying to wake up.

"The snow, silly," she says. Aqua's really too much of a morning person; where does she find the energy this early. "Well, go on," she says, pushing me back into the room. "Put some warm clothes on. I'm going to see if Terra's up yet." I watch as she giddily skips down the hall. Whatever this snow stuff is, it must be a big deal.

I rummage through my closet until I finally find something that looks warm: long khaki pants, a light green shirt with my white/black one over it, and two layers of socks. Hope this is warm enough.

I walk down the hall and push open the door to find Aqua and Terra talking with Master Eraqus: all three are smiling. Terra's wearing a black turtleneck with dark brown pants while Master Eraqus just looks like his clothing is thicker than usual. The Master notices me first.

"Ah, Ventus," he says, motioning me forward, "good morning. I trust you will do your best to keep these two out of trouble today." I look back and forth between my friends slightly confused. "The three of you, have a good day." He walks off in the direction of his office.

"What was he talking about?"

"We have a tradition here," Terra explains. "On the day of the first real snow, the Master gives us the day off and let's us just go out and enjoy ourselves."

"It gets kind of crazy," Aqua laughs, exchanging knowing glances with Terra, "so prepare yourself. Terra, help him find some warm clothes he can go outside in; I'll look through some of the old stuff and see what I can find."

I follow Terra back to his room; clothes are strewn all over the bed and floor. "Did your dresser explode or something?" He playfully shoves me against the wall and looks through the piles to try and find something that would fit me. Eventually, we find a light grey coat, water resistant tan pants, and a pair of boots.

"What on earth happened in here?" As I pull on a pair of gloves, Terra smiles sheepishly at Aqua, who just shakes her head. "Here Ven, I found this for you." She puts a hat over my head and takes a step back to look at me. "Something isn't quite right," she says, thinking pose in full effect. It suddenly hits her and will a quick spell, the color of the hat changes to a muted green. "Perfect," she smiles. We all leave the room, dressed warmly, heading for the front door.

The cold blast hits like a ton of bricks, sending a quick shiver down my spine. I tilt my head upward and watch as this white stuff Aqua calls snow falls to the ground. Terra and Aqua run ahead, eager to go play, leaving me behind. The white flakes land on my face, catching on my eyelashes and melting shortly after impact, leaving little wet spots behind on my skin. The white flakes land on my coat sleeve and I briefly notice each unique pattern before they melt away. This all seems so familiar, like I've seen this stuff before, but I can't seem to remember. My head starts to hurt; best not to dwell on this right now. Some instinct within me kicks in and I tip my head back and stick out my tongue. The snow melts on contact, leaving cold pricks on my tongue. Wonder of this new world overtakes me as I stand there in the light shower. I glance at my friends; Aqua smiling as she looks up at me while Terra seems otherwise occupied. As I take a step towards them, I slip on the stair and begin to fall. I feel someone grab me and find myself looking into Aqua's frightened eyes.

"Are you alright, Ven?"

"The stairs are slippery."

She just smiles back at me, a small smile, like I've amuse her. "That's the ice's fault," she says, helping me to my feet. "You've got to be careful. Winter can be dangerous." Suddenly, a ball of white hits my friend in the face. She screams and off across the forecourt, Terra's in hysterics. "Terra," she screams, wiping snow from her face, "you are so going to pay for that."

We both run after him to the mountain path, avoiding the occasional snowball. Aqua casts Blizzard spells with a vengeance in his direction. We get to the open area and war breaks out between the two. I duck and cover to avoid getting hit. Aqua leaps up on to higher ground and forms an ice barricade between her and Terra's snowballs. Terra dives behind one of the benches to avoid her attacks. Snowball after snowball pelts the bench top, barely missing my friend. Stealthily, I crawl over and start to help him by making snowballs. He smiles at me, and slowly, we begin to chip away at Aqua's defenses.

Despite our best attempts, she still wins; having strong winter magic tends to do that. With what's left of her barricade, Terra shows me how to build a fort. Aqua creates great packing snow, which the two of us then form into bricks and add to the structure. After it's finished, we all crawl inside and goof off, telling jokes and just talking with one another.

The cold starts to get to me, sending shivers through my body. Terra notices and suggests we all go inside and warm up. We crawl out and Terra lifts me up on to his back and we head back to the forecourt.

"Wait," Aqua says when we get there. "There's one more thing we have to do." She falls backward, arms spread, and lands in the snow. Terra smiles and puts me down, following her lead. I watch as they move their arms and legs back and forth.

"Come on Ven," Terra says. I lay down in the snow and follow their example. Terra helps Aqua to her feet and then me. I look back and smile; three angels lie on the ground. Aqua brushes off some of the snow on my back and we head back inside to the warmth of the castle. "Aqua, would you mind starting a fire? I'll be in there soon."

I follow Aqua into the library and sit on the couch in front of the fireplace, pulling my legs up under my chin. She loads a few more logs onto the fire before lighting it with a spell. After a short while, with the fire crackling, Aqua comes and sits beside me. "How are you doing?" she says, putting her arm around me. "Are you getting any warmer?"

I nod, scooting closer to her. "That was really fun. I like the snow."

"Me too; winter is my favorite time of year."

"Why?" I say, looking up at her.

"Well, there's snow, and Christmas, and…"

"Hot chocolate," Terra says, walking in with three mugs topped with marshmallows. Aqua eagerly grabs one of them and takes a small sip. "Careful," he says, handing me one before sitting down next to me. "It's hot."

As I sip the warm drink, sitting in front of a lovely fire, I think about how lucky I am. I have the best friends in the world. I really don't deserve them. I whisper a silent prayer of thanks for these two wonderful people and pray that we will always be this close.


	2. Aqua

The snow has finally stopped, leaving a beautiful dusting over the earth. A clear blue sky stretches out over the mountains and flat plains below. Perfect, I think to myself as I button my coat. I slip out of my room and head for the door, push it open quietly, and walk to the stairs.

"Hey Aqua, where are you going?" I turn around to find Ven and Terra looking at me, both of them dismissing their Keyblades.

"No where in particular," I say coyly.

"Come on, Aqua," Ven says, "don't do this to us."

It really is too much fun messing with him, but I decide against it. "I'm going out to pick a tree."

"By yourself?" Terra says, crossing his arms. "Aqua, you know that that's something we're supposed to do together."

"Why? Do you want to come too?" I joke. Both boys head off to their rooms and meet me downstairs decked out in winter gear. "Everybody ready," I say, pulling open the doors. Down the stairs we go to the forecourt where Terra and I summon our gliders. Ven hops on Terra's and we speed off across the sky towards one of the nearby peaks.

The snow covered tops of the pines, glittering in the sunlight. Suddenly, an idea pops into my mind. I pull a 180 and shoot at branches, dropping heaps of snow on my two friends. Both smile, and a competitive glint appears in Terra's eyes. I turn around and try to disappear, but soon find myself getting bumped into snow banks. Laughter echoes through the forest as we all play and act like children. Finally, completely covered in snow, we come to a clearing in the woods.

"Alright," I say, shaking some of the snow out of my hair. "Let's find a tree."

"Can I pick one out?" Ven asks. I look at Terra, and we let him run off to find a tree. As we follow a short ways behind, I can't help but continue to try to dump snow on my friend's head. Terra chases after me, grabbing snow, and sticks it down the back of my shirt. I squeal as the cold rushes through my body, his face lighting up with mischief. "Hey, you guys," Ven calls out in the distance, "I found one."

The tree he's found is perfect: about 12 foot tall, sunlight shines through the boughs and makes the snow shine like diamonds. "It's perfect," Terra says, summoning his Keyblade. I grab Ven and pull him away as Terra swings Earthshaker at the trunk. Slowly, the notch begins to grow and the tree begins to tip.

"TIMBER!" Ven screams as it falls to the snow.

Terra and I summon our gliders again; we tie the tree to the back of his, while most of the weight rests on my own glider. With the boys on Terra's glider and me sitting on the tree, making sure it stays on my glider, we set off for home.

Getting the tree inside is an easier feat than getting it to the castle: thank goodness for Zero Gravity spells.

"Master Eraqus!" Ven screams as we walk through the door and runs off to find the Master. "We got a Christmas tree; come and see it." Terra and I smile, remembering being that old and the excitement that came with it. With his help, we're able to get the tree in the stand. I stand back and admire our work; behind the tree, the stained-glass window shines multicolored spots on the branches.

"You three have really outdone yourselves this year," Master Eraqus, practically being dragged by Ven, says. "Well, let the decorating begin." Everyone spits up, running to different corners of the castle to retrieve Christmas decorations. I grab a box of ornaments, each made of glittering glass, checking to make sure one item is there before heading back.

The throne room is alive; Terra's untangling lights, Master Eraqus and Ven are draping garland and ribbon, while Christmas music blares in the background.

"Ven, can you come here for a minute?" I say putting down the box.

"What is it Aqua?" the blonde says, skidding to a stop in front of me.

"I've got something for you." I pull out a glass ornament: it's green, cut so that it actually spells out "Ventus" in script, accented with silver. He takes it in his hands, turning it in his hands, before look back up at me. His eyes are wet.

"Thank you so much, Aqua."

I pull him close and give him a hug. "You're very welcome, Ven. Merry Christmas."

"Hey, Aqua," Terra yells from across the room, "the lights are ready for you." Giving Ventus one last squeeze before going off to help Terra. I take one end of the lights in hand, and start Spellweaver; I spin around the tree, soaring higher and higher until the entire tree is laced with lights. From there, we can start decorating.

As we put on ornaments, we dance around the room and sing as loud as we possibly can. Master Eraqus or Terra will occasionally take my hand and we'll do a random dance break, while I'll grab Ven and we'll spin around the room. All time seems to melt away as we laugh and enjoy one another company.

In what seems to be no time at all, the tree is decorated and stands glittering in the fading light of day.

"Now, for the finishing touch," Master Eraqus says, reaching into a small box. He pulls out the Christmas star and looks at each of us, his gaze stopping on Ven. "Ventus, if you wouldn't mind, could you put the star on this year?"

"Me?" the young apprentice asks, eyes wide with shock.

"This is your first Christmas here with us. I'd like for you to have this honor."

The boy takes the star in his hands and walks over to the tree, quite unsure of how he's to reach the top. Terra walks up behind him and lifts him to his shoulder, giving him a boost of height. Still unable to reach the top, I cast a Zero Gravity spell under Terra, channeling all my energy and focus as I slowly lift both of my friends into the air. Ven reaches out and carefully places the star on top. After lowering them back down to the ground, Master Eraqus gives me the signal and I cast Holy inside the star. It erupts in a rainbow of light. Terra and Ven come and join us as well look over our masterpiece.

"We make a good team," Ven whispers. Gazing up at the tree and then at my friends, I realize how true that statement is. With these two by my side, there's nothing I can't do


	3. Terra

**Special thanks to WishingDreamer5 and TerraKH for helping me come up with present ideas. You guys rock.**

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The sound of bells tolling brings me out of sleep's sweet embrace. Dim morning light shines through my window. Yawning, I stretch my arms up over and behind my head. The cold air fills my lungs and tempts me to remain in bed. I'll stay a little longer, I decide. The world is still at peace; I'll allow it to remain as such.

Memories of last night drift into my mind as I rest there, enjoying this cool morning. Ven was insistent on staying up and waiting for Santa after hearing Aqua's childhood memories. Eventually, he lost the fight and passed out on the couch. Aqua had found him and had him in her arms when I found her climbing up the stairs.

"Do you need any help?" I whisper.

"No, I'm fine." She looks down at his sleeping face. "Poor thing, he's exhausted."

"Well, he'll sleep well tonight. That's for sure."

I open the door for her and she lays him on the bed. "Good night, Ven," she says, kissing him gently on the forehead. "Sweet dreams."

"Aqua," I whisper. She turns towards me and we leave the room before continuing our conversation. "Why build up his hopes… about Santa Claus, I mean?"

"Terra," she whispers, lowering her head, "it's good for him to believe in stuff like that. Don't remember what it was like when we were younger?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Sometimes we all need is faith in the impossible."

That thought had stayed with me all night. I'd stopped believing a long time ago, but I also realized that I'd also lost some of that faith as I'd grown older. Maybe I did need to believe more in the impossible.

A rustle of movement sounds from further down the hall, which is followed by a quiet knock moments later. "Terra," a voice whispers from the other side. "You up?"

"Yeah," I answer back. "Give me a minute." I pull back the covers, grab an old t-shirt and a pair of sweats, and pull them on, before opening the door. "What is it, Ven?"

His blue eyes peer back at me with unbridled excitement. "Merry Christmas!"

I laugh, ruffling his hair. "Merry Christmas to you too. Is Aqua up yet?"

"I don't know; I haven't heard any one this morning. You want to come with me and see if anyone is up yet?"

I smile and nod, close the door behind me and head down the hall. When we reach the door to the throne room, we can't help but freeze.

"Well?" I whisper.

"Well what?"

"Are you going to open it?"

"What are you two arguing about?" We both jump as Aqua squeals. Her hair is messy, and her short nightgown brushes against her thighs; I can just make out the bottoms of her shorts from underneath. The light step of her bare feet against the wood is barely audible.

"Aqua, are you trying to scare us to death?"

"Scare you; you scared me!" she whispers loudly. "What are you two doing anyway?"

"Seeing if anyone was awake yet?"

"And?"

"Well," Ven whispers, "we're awake. Should we go in?"

We all look at the door. Deep inside, I remember waiting for my mom to get up before we could open presents. I guess that habit dies hard. We sit there waiting on the ground for close to an hour before the door opens.

"What are you three doing?" Master Eraqus asks, looking down at us. "Get in there."

We rush into the room; soon the floor is littered with paper and the room is filled with the sound of "thank yous" and gleeful remakes to the gifts.

As the initial excitement of it begins to dwindle, the Master reaches behind him and pulls out three more boxes. "I have one last gift for each of you. Ven, I know this is your first Christmas with us, but can Aqua open her gift first."

"Yeah," the boy says, spinning the wheels of his new skateboard (my idea), "go on ahead."

Slowly, Aqua tears off the paper and opens the ivory colored box. A beautiful tune floats through the air, kind of melancholy, but pretty none the less. With tears in her eyes, she thanks the Master and hugs him tight.

"Terra," he says, handing a present to me. I tear off the wrapping to find a large book. "I know how much you want to be a great leader and example for them," he tells me quietly, motioning to Ven and Aqua. "That book contains accounts, letters, and words of advice from Keyblade Masters dating through the ages. Many of them I've never had the pleasure of knowing, but their wise words helped me to become the man I am today. And now, I pass this gift to you; may it help you become the honorable man I know you will one day become."

"Thank you, Master." I whisper, running my finger along the binding.

"And now for your present, Ven."

The blonde takes the medium sized gift in his hands and opens up the box. Aqua and I look over the edges; inside, a silver Master symbol rests against a green piece of velvet.

"Ventus, you've been living with us for the past few months and I believe I speak for everyone when I say that you have been a joy. I'd consider it an honor to have you as an apprentice, so I humbly ask you…will you call the Land of Departure your home?"

With tearful, wondering eyes, Ven looks up at the Master. "I thought it already was." Both individuals smile and Ven wraps his arms around the Master's neck. Aqua and I join in on the moment, embracing our new and complete family.

After that, we retreat to different parts of the castle. Sitting on the stairway, I flip through the pages of my book. "Anything good?" a voice says from behind.

I look over my shoulder and smile at Aqua. "Yeah, lots of great advice…it's kind of overwhelming."

"What do you mean?" she says, taking a seat next to me.

"How am I supposed to learn all of this?'

"Terra, you're wonderful just the way you are. I couldn't ask for a better friend than you. And Ven idolizes you. Terra, I think it's a great idea to take these words to heart, but whatever you do, don't let it change who YOU are."

I lower my head, trying to hide the evidence of tears in my eyes. "Thanks Aqua; that means a lot to me."

"You're welcome," she says, giving me a side hug.

"Hey, what are you two doing?" We both turn to see Ven smiling at us. Slowly, he begins to laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" I ask. He points above our heads; looking up, I find Aqua and I are underneath a sprig of mistletoe.

"No way, Ven," Aqua protests.

"Ahh, come on. You guys have to; that's the rules."

Aqua looks back at me. 'I'm sorry' I mouth. Hesitantly, she leans towards me. Our lips meet.

Her kiss is light and beautiful. For a moment, I feel free and full of light. It's the most wonderful feeling I've ever experienced. I never want it to end. She pulls away, and looks up at me with wonderment before leaving.

No debate…best Christmas ever.

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**Hehe...Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these small snap shots. Please check out my other stories and please review; I'd love to know what you think and if there are anyways I can improve.**

**Merry Christmas!**

**~Ami**


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